LHVnews: Germany’s flagship airline Lufthansa has failed in its last-ditch effort to reach agreement on early retirement and pensions with the representatives of cabin crew union UFO, making a general walkout very likely.

A statement by Lufthansa on Thursday said that an offer, which included a pension scheme for new employees, was rejected by the UFO representatives.

It said the proposal was common among major German companies, insisting that it could bring an end to the current standstill.

The flight attendants union had vowed to launch a strike if Lufthansa did not meet a Thursday deadline to propose a better pension system.

Leader of the UFO Nicoley Baublies said earlier on Thursday that an overnight written offer by Lufthansa had no substantial improvement to the previous offers.

The deadline was supposed to expire at 1600 GMT and the talks were the last-ditch efforts by the airline to avoid a serious disruption in the flights. No emergency timetable has yet been published by the company for a potential walkout that could affect 19,000 flight attendants.

Lufthansa says it plans to reduce the retirement benefits for new employees while it insists that taking early retirement should be restricted to above the age of 55. However, sources close to the company say the offer put forward on Thursday included incentives for the workers who would continue working until the age of 67.